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Barack Obama to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu on March 3

By David Jackson;
10:59 a.m. PST February 12, 2014

In this 2012 handout photo from the Israeli Government Press Office, President Barack Obama talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington. The two leaders will meet March 3.
(Photo:
Amos Ben Gershom, GPO via Getty Images
)

WASHINGTON – President Obama will meet March 3 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said Wednesday, the latest addition to a string of upcoming meetings with Middle East leaders, including one at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage.

Obama, who also will meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Friday at Sunnylands and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah in March, will speak with Netanyahu about ongoing negotiations involving the Palestinians and Iran.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit is a demonstration of the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel, and our close consultations on a range of security issues,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are critical of an interim deal involving the U.S. and its allies and Iran, which has agreed to give up certain nuclear activities in exchange for a lessening of sanctions.

While Obama supports talks about a long-range agreement with Iran, Netanyahu says Iran is determined to secure the means to make nuclear weapons.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu will also be in Washington in early March for a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

As part of his new round of Middle East diplomacy, Obama meets Friday with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

In late March, as part of an overseas trip that includes Europe, Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia to confer with its King Abdullah.

Among the topics for those meetings: The violence in Syria.

Vice President Joe Biden met with Jordan’s king Wednesday, and they “discussed ongoing efforts to bring about a political transition and an end to the conflict in Syria,” said a White House statement.

“They spoke about how best to address the growing threat of violent extremism fueled by the Syrian conflict,” the statement said.